Forum:Highsun
Storming the Towers of Silence: Highsun ??-?? A group including Jura, Rain, Wavlyn, Erevis, and Noale met with a travelling priest in Willowdale and together entered the Northern Badlands. Partway through the first night, their camp was attacked by a gnoll raiding party. The Pathfinders defeated the gnolls and their hyenas. Realizing that the attack indicated that the gnolls remained aggressive despite the defeat of their Champion by Sir Roswell, the Pathfinders decided to attack the gnolls within their towers and end the pack's raids. The battle began on the path leading up to the Towers of Silence. This path quickly became crowded with advancing Pathfinders, gnolls, and Grease and Aqueous Orb spells. While the majority of the Pathfinders pushed steadily into the towers, Wavlyn took advantage of her flight ability to attack the gnolls on the highest tower with lightning. The gnoll shaman confronted the Pathfinders, letting forth a fearsome howl that caused Zuni to flee. After a brief fight, the Shaman was defeated along with the last of his pack. The Pathfinders quickly discovered that the pits placed in the center of each tower were filled with prisoners in various states of health and with bodies in various states of decay. They immediately helped the prisoners out of the pits and to the wagon, and administered first aid. One of the more alert prisoners identified himself as a Bodekker, and explained that the surviving prisoners were citizens of Willowdale, captures outside the wall as far south as the Golden Fields. Also discovered within the pits was a cursed flask, which only Erevis seemed inclined to use. Examining the fallen gnolls, the Pathfinders discovered one lucky gnoll who had been rendered unconscious by the Aqueous Orb, but not killed. The Pathfinders revived this gnoll in order to interrogate him. Surrounded by the party that had destroyed his pack and under the influence of Erevis' Chill Touch, the gnoll readily answered questions. His information was limited, but he indicated that the shaman had led the pack after the Champion was killed, and that the gnolls had recently fought with the hobgoblins. Having concluded their investigation, the group discussed what to do with the gnoll. Neither Pathfinders nor the freed citizens of Willowdale were comfortable with killing a helpless prisoner, so the gnoll was bound and placed in the wagon. The group returned to Willowdale, reunited the freed captives with their families, and secured the gnoll in jail. Hunting Rubikon: Highsun ??-?? The Pathfinders Jura and Kat had convened in the Boar & Thistle for dinner when a small group of armoured individuals entered the inn. Speaking with Martha, they quickly and subtly took over the establishment, escorting folks out and watching the doors and windows for trouble. After the perimeter was secured, two more men entered, much more finely dressed. They approached the two Pathfinders; one introduced himself as a reprisentative of a syndicate from New Luxberg, who had a job beyond the wall that they would like assistance with. He explained that the agent Izual, the man accompanying him, was to find and terminate an escaped criminal by the name of Rubikon, and that the syndicate would like to enlist the Pathfinders' help as guides and aids, what with their experience in the wilds. They would be helping to bring a criminal to justice, and would be compensated well for their efforts. The two agreed, and the three would set out the next morning. After purchasing a horse, the group set off west towards the Farsang Fens, where syndicate diviners had determined the fugative to have passed through. Upon reaching the swamps, Izual set his horse free, as the muck was almost impossible for it. Trudging through the hip-deep mud, the group was beset by insects that ravaged their morales almost as terribly as their food stores. As they walked, they discovered a small lake, the center of which seemed to hold a rocky outcropping engraved with ancient writings. After defending themselves from a monstrous crocodile, they determined that the outcropping was the top of some sort of elven archive, sealed under the water. Carrying on, they chanced upon a small clearing surrounding an impossibly beautiful flower. Jura descerned that it was a tahtolethi, or a wishing flower; a combination of ignorance, annoyance and awe lead them to leave the flower as it was, at least for the time being. As evening fell, the group made their way to a set of elven ruins sticking up through the mud, but from what they could see and hear, the ruins were inhabited. Sneaking around to gather more intelligence, Izual was spotted by a small mangy dog wearing a tricorn hat, who merely sat staring at him. When he returned to the others, the dog followed. Jura attempted to calm and befriend the dog, at which point it started telepathically yelling a series of curses and profanities, which alerted the others in the camp. Two men came out, and after some initial confusion, the Pathfinders were invited in. The men introduced themselves as the Knights of the Post, a band of theives from the city who had been caught, tried and banished into the wilds, where they roamed for a while before settling in the fens, thanks to the elven ruins which seemed to offer some sort of magical protection against the beasts of the area. The Pathfinders shared food and conversation with the knights; eventually, the conversation turned to Rubikon. Apparently the warforged had just shortly passed by there, and had left a message for those following him. In a back room of the knights' camp was a pile of leaves; when approached by the Pathfinders, it swirled into a likeness of the warforged druid, who gave them directions to where they would meet. After the likeness crumbled, the Pathfinders spent their night in the camp. The next morning, the Pathfinders set out to the location the message had given them. Upon reaching the designated spot, they discovered another pile of leaves. This one also built itself into a likeness of Rubikon, but this one gave a different message: Rubikon had indeed passed by here, but had travelled north. It also informed them that a pair of black dragons that had originally planned to meet here to fight each other for supremacy would be by momentarily, and would fight them instead. With barely a moment's notice, the three adventurers were forced to fight off two young black dragons. After a hard-won battle, the Pathfinders claimed the dragons' hoards, but had no further clues to the whereabouts of Rubikon. Upset with his empty-handedness and frustrated with the outdoors in general, Izual returned with the two Pathfinders to Willowdale and then returned to New Luxberg. Sosostriss' Library: Highsun ??-?? A group of Pathfinders including Kat, Ruthea, Jura and Alejandra decided to investigate Sosostriss' Tower, still looking for signs of the elusive Sosostriss. They explored several new rooms, including a library filled with books of all varieties, but with an unusually large selection of trashy romances. When they disturbed the books, a large wood elemental formed out of the flooring. The ensuing battle was cut short by Kat, who managed to successfully create a passable library card that pacified the creature, who retreated back into the floor. Kat and Ruthea then borrowed some books, which they took with them back to Willowdale